Chapter One - Semi Lunatic
I wake up to the sound of Sonny and Cher's 'I Got You Babe', playing from somewhere deep beneath my sheets.
It stirs me from sleep - unlike the rest of my family, I've always been a light sleeper - until I'm scrambling in the dark, trying to locate the source of the singing.
From the end of the bed, Mouse lifts his head from where he'd been resting it atop one of my stuffed animals, and blinks at me curiously. I ignore him, sticking my hand under the comforter blindly.
Feeling something vibrate against my fingertips, I reach further and wrap my fingers around my cellphone. I must've fallen asleep with it in my hands again, somehow managing to wedge it down there during the night.
Pulling it free, I squint in the sudden brightness the screen emits, glimpsing the time displayed there: 1:15 AM. Groaning, I fall back against my pillows and slide the green arrow to answer.
"What?" I croak irritably, not bothering with any pleasantries. I know who it is - the ring tone gives that much away - and with my early shift at the library tomorrow, I'm not in the mood for whatever it is my little sister wants.
There's a brief pause on the other end of the line, during which loud music and party noises filter in from the background. I swear, if this is another one of her drunken-calls, I'm marching down the hall and locking the door so she can't sneak in.
We'll see how our parents like being woken up at one o'clock in the morning.
Instead of Hallie's slur-happy voice, however, greeting me with some booze-induced nonesense, I'm greeted only with a shaky intake of breath, followed by some sniffling. And just like that, I'm wide awake.
"Hallie?" I ask, warning bells going off full force at the back of my mind. She's crying; that much is obvious. My little sister is calling me from a party at one o'clock in the morning, and she's crying.
Mouse's ears twitch at the blatant alarm in my tone, and I keep my eyes fixed on his, hand gripping my phone tightly. Say something, I will her fervently, biting my lip.
After what feels like an eternity of silence, she finally speaks. Her voice cracks, and even before she is finished talking, I'm shoving back my covers.
"Can you come get me?" she asks weakly - the sound of her choked back sob has me ditching the option of changing. I grab one of my dad's old sweatshirts to pull over my tank-top, otherwise staying in my pajama shorts as I head out of my room.
"I'll be there soon," I promise her, and we hang up.
The house is dark as I navigate myself to the front door. I'm so engrossed in worst-case scenerios as to why Hallie would be crying, that I don't even realize Mouse has followed me down the hall. He sits, watching me, from directly in front of the door.
All one hundred and sixty seven pounds of him.
Rolling my eyes, I grab my keys from the lacquered bowl on the table in the entrance and nudge at him with my foot. "Move Mouse," I whisper sternly, pointing to the spot I want him to go. After blinking at me for a solid ten seconds, he gets up and obliges, freeing my exit.
"Good boy," I tell him, ruffling his ears on my way out.
After starting the Jeep, I put it into neutral and let it slide soundlessly down our sloped driveway. If my parents were to wake up and find neither me nor Hallie home at this time, all hell would break loose. This fact alone is enough to have me speeding down our neighborhood's deserted streets, like some anxiety burdened bat out of hell.
YOU ARE READING
Whatever Happens
Teen Fiction"Hallie?" I ask, warning bells going off full force at the back of my mind. She's crying; that much is obvious. My little sister is calling me from a party at one o'clock in the morning, and she's crying. After what feels like an eternity of silence...
